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Learning Innovations Hub  – Fact Sheetshttp://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academic-skills/fact-sheets

Spelling rules Some spelling rules are worth learning; others are too complicated or have too many exceptions.Instead of learning ALL the rules, focus on learning rules which address your particular spelling

problems. Following is some helpful information on the rules for building new words:

1. Words for discussing spelling2. Ten common spelling rules3. Rules for Australian and American spelling

 SPELLING CHECKERS will be quite helpful when you need to apply rules to word building. However, the rules for American spelling differ from Australian spelling. You can set your computer to English (Australia) OR be prepared touse a good Australian dictionary to check for words that use American spelling. Try to choose Australian standardsand be consistent.

1. Words for discussing spelling•  VOWELS

—a, e, i, o and u are vowels. CONSONANTS

—the other 21 letters of the alphabet.

•  PREFIX—element added to the front of a word (e.g. un/in=not, pre=before, anti=against)•  SUFFIX—element added to the end of a word (e.g. -ing, -able, -ed, -ly, -ful, -ment, -tion)•  SYLLABLE—a word or section of a word with a single sound (e.g. read, fa_mous, dif_fi_cult) •  STRESS—the emphasis given to a syllable (see underlined syllables: famous, focus, occur, infer)

2. Ten common spelling rules

Rule Examples Memorise1. ‘ie’ or ‘ei ’  Write i before e, except after c

 Write ie after c for words with a shen

sound.

 Write ei when the vowels sounds likean a as in 'weigh'

 achieve, believe, friend receive, receipt,perceive

 ancient, efficient, sufficient, conscience neighbour, vein, reign, rein, deign

Exceptions:Words like counterfeit,either, neither, height,

leisure, forfeit , foreign,science, species, seize,weird

2. ‘s ’ or ‘es ’   Add es if a word ends in ch, sh, ss, x

or z  

  Add es for most words ending in o 

 arch > arches, clash > clashes, class > classes,box > boxes, quiz > quizzes

 tomato > tomatoes, hero > heroes, go > goes,do > does, echo > echoes

Exceptions:Words like altos, duos,pianos, radios, solossopranos, studios,videos, typos

3. ‘y’ to ‘i’ or not For words ending in y preceded by a

vowel, retain the y when adding s or

a suffix. For words ending in y , retain the y

when adding ing.

 For words ending in y , preceded by aconsonant, change the y to i beforeany other suffix

 convey > conveys, employ > employer

  try > trying, justify > justifying, certify >certifying, study > studying

  try > tried, justify > justifies, certify > certifiable,mystify > mystified, laboratory > laboratories

Exceptions:Words like dryness,shyness

4. drop the final ‘e’  DROP the e when the suffix starts

with a vowel.

 DROP the e when the word ends indge.

 DROP the final e when adding -ing  

 save > savable, use > usable

  judge > judgment 

 save >saving, manage > managing, trace >

tracing, emerge > emerging

Exceptions:DO NOT DROP the e ifthe word ends in ce orge (e.g. manage >manageable, trace >traceable) 

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Learning Innovations Hub  – Fact Sheetshttp://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academic-skills/fact-sheets

Rule Examples Memorise5. ‘t  ’ or ‘tt ’ when adding -ing, - ed and some suffixes to verbs DOUBLE the t for verbs of one

syllable with a single vowel, or ashort vowel sound.

 DOUBLE the t for verbs of morethan one syllable when the stressis on the last syllable.

 rot > rotting, rotted, rottenfit > fitting, fittedknot > knotting, knotted

 abet > abetting, abettingallot > allotting, allotted

commit > committing, committedemit > emitting, emittedforget > forgetting, forgotten (but forgetful)

Exceptions:DO NOT DOUBLE the t forverbs of one syllable with adouble vowel or a longvowel sound (e.g.treat > treating, treated;greet > greeting, greeted) 

6. ‘r ’ or ‘rr ’ when adding -ing, - ed and some suffixes to verbs DOUBLE the r for verbs of one

syllable when the final r ispreceded by a single vowel.

 DOUBLE the r for words of morethan one syllable when the stressdoes not fall on the first syllable. 

 star > starring, starred, starrytar > tarring, tarredwar > warring, warred (but warfare)scar > scarring, scarredstir > stirring, stirred concur > concurring, concurred, concurrence

occur > occurring, occurred, occurrencedefer > deferring, deferred, (but deference)deter > deterring, deterring, deterrent

infer > inferring, inferred, (but inference)prefer > preferred, preferring, (but preference)refer > referred, referring, referral

Exceptions:DO NOT DOUBLE the r forverbs of one syllable whenthe final r is preceded by adouble vowel (e.g. fear>fearing, feared)

DO NOT DOUBLE the r forwords of more than onesyllable, when the stressfalls on the first syllable(e.g. prosper > prospered, prospering) 

7. ‘l ’ or ‘ll ’ when adding -ing, -ed and some suffixes to verbsDOUBLE the l when it is preceded bya single vowel. 

cancel > cancelling, cancelled, cancellationenrol > enrolling, enrolled (but enrolment)fulfil > fulfilling, fulfilled, fulfillmentlevel > levelling, levelledtravel > travelling, travelled, traveller

Exceptions:DO NOT DOUBLE the lwhen it is preceded by adouble vowel (e.g. conceal> concealing, concealed) 

8. Dropping lettersMany words drop a letter whenadding a suffix, but it isnot always the final letter  

argue > argument; proceed > procedure;humour > humorous; disaster > disastrous;repeat > repetition; administer > administration

There is no reliable rulecovering these words, sothey simply have to bememorised. 

9. Word endings such asable/ible, ant/ance; ent/ence 

negligible, incredible, invisible, sensible,admirable, preventable, suitable, dependableattendance, ignorance, nuisance, importancesentence, difference ,independence, intelligence

There is no reliable rulecovering these words, sothey simply have to bememorised. 

10. Silent letters Some words include letters which arenot pronounced when the word isspoken.

advertisement, campaign, column, debt, design,doubt, gauge, ghetto, heir, knife, knowledge,island, mortgage, often, pneumatic, rhythm,solemn, subtle 

There is no reliable rulecovering these words, sothey simply have to bememorised. 

3. Rules for Australian and American spelling

There are often considerable differences between Australian and American spelling. You shoulduse Australian spelling in preference to American spelling, but if American spelling acceptable,then make sure you use it CONSISTENTLY in your essay.

Examples

•  -re/-er (use -re for spelling words e.g. theatre, litre, centre, calibre, sombre, fibre—NOT theater, liter, center) 

•  -our/-or (use -our for spelling words e.g. colour, honour, neighbour —NOT color, honor, neighbor) 

•  -ise/-ize (both are acceptable; but the Australian preference is for -ise e.g. criticise rather than criticize)

•  practice/practise (American spelling is practice, but Australian spelling requires practice [noun] practise [verb])

•  other common words (e.g. aeroplane—NOT airplane; traveller —NOT traveler; defence—NOT defense)